As I addressed in the finale of last semester’s blog, I have always loved films. Ever since little baby me, I have always loved movies. Ironically enough, I never really got into any TV shows as a kid. Sure, I watched SpongeBob and Adventure Time, but I never really invested myself into any real TV shows. It was not till my freshman year in high school, that I gained a real appreciation for TV shows.
I remember seeing ads for what looked like a movie about some crazy dude. The one scene they showed a million times was of the guy making everything around him levitate and spin with loads of colors swirling while he had what I could only describe as mind constipation. I would watch that and think, “whow, that seems surreal. I bet that’d be a cool movie.” Well after watching the ad about a million time I caught on to the fact that it was actually a TV show called Legion. The ad caught my interest, and in watching the premier, I found myself strapped in to a 700-foot-high roller coaster.
Legion is an absolute masterpiece of a show, so good! The show is about a guy named David who has been told he is insane throughout his whole life. He is thrown in a mental hospital, his family refers to him as crazy, and all of his memories are suppressed and jumbled. Although things begin to go haywire while he is in the mental institution. He starts seeing things and hearing voices, all of a sudden it seems like he can move things with his mind as though he has superpowers. As some of his suppressed memories begin to unfold, an ominous being called the “devil with yellow eyes” begins to haunt him more and more, driving him more and more insane. Shit hits the fan, David essentially has the ability to make things fly with his mind and control other peoples mind and stuff. It’s gets really wild, so I don’t want to spoil any of the juicy parts of the show.
There are so many parts of this show that make it such a great experience. The mixture of lighting and color are very vibrant but set up an ominous mood. Every little detail is important: aspect ratio, focus, visual and audio mix. Every, single, detail. Not to mention the soundtrack is SO GOOD. This show is the reason that I began listening to indie music and classical rock: Undiscovered First, The Daily Mail, She’s a Rainbow, Behind Blue Eyes. So much good music, and it all pairs perfectly with each scene.
But my favorite part of the show is the ambiguity. Every episode keeps you guessing on what reality is and what is in David’s head. The whole time I was constantly on my seat contemplating “Is David insane, or does he really have these superpowers? How much of this is actually real?” I would watch this show with my dad and my brother, so we would always break into discussion after watching the show. We would constantly be contemplating what just happened and what’s gonna happen next. This show did something right cause it was constantly on our minds.
This show really was a gateway drug type deal, because it was SO GOOD and it got me into so many other TV shows: Ozark, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, This is Us, Parks & Rec. TV is definitely different than movie for a few reasons, but given the right director and the right settings, TV shows can be just as dynamic as movies. There is so much that can be depicted through the motion picture. Different experiences, people, emotions, landscapes, can all be captured through TV or movies. There is so much potential of expression that exists in this art form.
I would say try TV shows if you haven’t, although my guess is that quarantine already had you watching some TV show. EVERYONE binge-watched at least one show during quarantine. Go explore new shows, watch something you would have never considered. Test the waters, see what its like. Who knows, you might find a TV show that you really resonate with.
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